Dental equipment cleaning apparatus and method

ABSTRACT

Method and apparatus for cleaning clogged dental equipment lines, such as water and air lines and drains, for a wide variety of dental equipment such as cuspidors and handpieces. One embodiment has an air hose connected to a connector for a handpiece for a drill, etc., wherein the connector has an interior plastic insert which closes off air to the holes in the drill for drive and exhaust air and allows air through two holes which connect with the spray air and water ports of the handpiece for the drill whererby the air blows out the clogged slits. Another embodiment uses the air hose with a rubber nozzle to blow clogged suction lines. Another embodiment has a rubber element with a hole in its middle which fits over the discharge hole in the cuspidor, whereby the air blows out the debris clogging the cuspidor hole and connecting lines.

This application is a continuation of our prior application Ser. No.205,735 filed Jun. 13, 1988, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,399.

Modern dental offices are equipped with a variety of instruments forcleaning, drilling and performing other tasks relating to the teeth andgums of patients.

Typically, air under pressure is used to drive the "turbines" of drillsand similar devices. Additionally, water is injected under pressure intothe mouth to clean debris and the debris and water are removed viasuction tubes. Also, cuspidors are employed whereby the patientperiodically spits out accumulated water and debris.

A significant problem with all of these systems is that the debris,which includes metal fragments, amalgam and other hard matter quicklyclog up the tubes and holes and slits of the devices employed.

At present, the only solution for removing clogging of drill handpiecesis to send them back to the manufacturer who disassembles and cleansthem. In this regard, it might be noted that drills, jets for emittingabrasives (such as those sold as "Prophy Jet" by Dentsply International,Inc.) etc., are often sold with thin wires, but these are generallyineffective to remove clogs, especially those which are far into thedevice and inaccessible to such wires. Even when cleaning of suchequipment can be done in the office, a service technician is employed.

The failure of dental equipment occurs at various intervals and dependson the specific instrument and degree of use. However, clogging occurswith many devices quite often. When the clogged equipment is essentialto the ability of the operatory to function, e.g., the cuspidors orsuction lines, the dentist must shut down his/her entire system untilthe units are cleaned, which downtime is tremendously expensive for thedentist.

SUMMARY

The present invention provides methods and apparatus for cleaning dentalequipment in the dentist's office by the dentist or his/her employees.

Moreover, this cleaning system can be accomplished quickly, usually in amatter of minutes, so that the equipment can be restored to use withoutundue delay, thereby avoiding costly downtime.

In one aspect, the invention provides a novel insert which is containedin a fitment, which insert has holes for communicating with the waterand spray holes of a handpiece or similar device, but which closes offthe channels normally used to pass the turbine drive air and exhaust airfor the drill, etc. This insert is fitted to an air pressure hose which,in turn, is connected to the pressurized air supply of the office.

In another embodiment, the invention provides methods and apparatus forcleaning suction tubes. The suction tubes used to remove water anddebris from the patient's mouth become clogged very often. This is aserious problem for the dentist, since he/she must hire a service personto blow out the debris, etc. clogging the lines. Since it is usually notpossible to know where the clogging is, the debris is often blownthroughout the dentist's patient treatment room, which, among otherthings, is unsanitary and thus highly undesirable.

Another embodiment is a method for cleaning cuspidors which becomeclogged with debris which is spit into them by the patient. Suchcuspidors use gravity drain lines and this invention employs a specialsealing member with an opening concentric with the discharge opening inthe cuspidor and a fitment on the end of the pressurized air gun whichfits snugly into the hole of the member, whereby pressurized air is usedto blow out the clogging materials.

The foregoing summarizes not only the primary various embodiments of theinvention, but also serves to convey the objects of the invention whichare, as indicated, to provide method and apparatus for cleaning avariety of dental equipment in the dentist's office without undue delayand very inexpensively compared to existing techniques.

THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of various types of drillhandpieces.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the cuspidor unit.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an air/water syringe typically found ina modern dentist's office.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the syringe tip shown in FIG. 3, butfrom another angle.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an air pressure hose connected to aconnector for a drill, etc.

FIG. 6A is an exploded view in perspective of the coupling of FIG. 5,shown on the left, and an insert for air and water which fits into thecoupling, shown on the right.

FIG. 6B is a frontal view of one type of conventional insert of the kindgenerally shown in FIG. 6A.

FIG. 6C is a frontal view of another standard insert of the kindgenerally shown in FIG. 6B.

FIG. 7 is an perspective view of the various components of the presentinvention unconnected to each other.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a conical cleaning tip of this inventionattached to a quick release connector.

FIG. 9 is a top view of the cuspidor adaptor of this invention shown inFIG. 7 placed over the cuspidor shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along lines 10--10 of FIG. 6B of aconventional insert.

FIG. 10A is a sectional view taken along the lines 10A--10A of the righthand insert shown in FIG. 7 showing one embodiment of the insert of thisinvention.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along the lines 11--11 of FIG. 6C of aconventional insert.

FIG. 11A is a sectional view taken along the lines 11A--11A of FIG. 7showing another insert of this invention.

FIG. 12 is a view in perspective of a drill handpiece of the type shownin FIG. 1.

FIG. 13 is a side elevation of a drill hand piece partially in sectionto illustrate insert position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The assembly is generally designated as 10 and includes an air pressureunit (not shown) controlled by a foot control 12 and connected by hose13 to an equipment unit 14.

FIG. 2 shows in somewhat larger detail the cuspidor 24. As explained,when the patient ejects water and debris into the cuspidor 24, waterfrom tube 26 carries the same through the discharge hole 27 which isconnected to a drain line. The cuspidor opening 27 and the drain line(not shown) frequently become clogged with the debris and, when thisoccurs, a serviceperson must usually be hired to disassemble the unit atsignificant cost, loss of the unit--and, consequently, substantial lostincome to the Dentist.

FIG. 3 depicts a syringe tip 42 for air and water connected to a housing43a. The latter is connected to a handle 43 which, in turn, is connectedto a hose 44 which terminates in a block 45 having fittings 46, 47. Thisassembly as a whole is referred to as 40. The tip 42 is shown from adifferent angle in FIG. 4.

Handpiece 150, shown in FIG. 12, has a coupling 160 which can be fittedinto a connector 49 which is fed by an air pressure tube 48, as shown inFIG. 5. Connector 49 is shown in FIG. 6A at the left. To the right inFIG. 6A is shown a standard insert 50 which is placed inside connector49. Insert 50 has two ports, 53, 54, one for air and the other forwater, which connect with holes 56, 57. Drive air for the drillhandpiece turbine is supplied through a port 55, as shown in FIG. 6C.

FIG. 6B illustrates another insert 50' with channels 55 designating theturbine drive air and 58 the spray air and 57 the spray water for thedrill. 56 is for exhausting the drive air and 59 is for an opticalfiber.

Inserts 50 and 50' are standard equipment today and it will beunderstood that each of the channels or holes described communicatethrough connector 49 to the air pressure unit for the handpieces 150,151.

However, turning to the handpiece 150 shown in FIG. 12, in addition tothe chuck 156 for holding the drill bit, there are two slits, 153 forinjecting water served by channel 58 and slit 152 for injecting air,served by channel 57, and these two slits frequently become clogged withdebris, etc. The handpiece 150 is attached to coupling 49 by means of aconnector 160.

Thus, when slits 152, 153 become clogged the present invention providesa quick means for unclogging the slits in the office.

This is accomplished by attaching an adaptor 80 (for a three hole insertas shown in FIG. 7) or 90 (for a four hole insert shown in FIG. 7).Adaptor 80 contains a novel insert 81 which, as shown in FIG. 11A hasthe turbine air passage 55 closed at 120. Similarly, insert 91 has airpassage 58 closed at 121 and air exhaust passage 56 blocked at 122.

Thus, in the case of a three hole handpiece, adapter 80 with insert 81within it, is connected to an opening 62 of an air gun 61 which has aquick release handle or lever 63.

Pressurized air from the pressure air supply in the dentists' office isconnected by a female connector (not shown) which connects with maleconnector 72. Connector 72 has a block 69 at the top which receives anair gauge 68. At the top of gauge regulator assembly 68, there is ascrew coupling 67 which receives a threaded coupling 66 which is at theinput end of air pressure hose 60.

The unit 200 (i.e., the system from member 70 to 62 shown in FIG. 7) isdesigned to be sold preassembled for ready use by the Dentist and/orhis/her technician. It is important that the air pressure be properlyset by means of regulator assembly 68. A pressure of 30 psi or less iscurrently required by OSHA regulations, and this pressure willaccomplish the functions of this invention.

The Dentist or assistant then attaches one of the handpiece adaptors 80,90 or 100 to coupling 62.

When the pressure is correct, the handle 63 is depressed and thepressurized air flows through the system described and blows the cloggeddebris, etc., through the handpiece 150 and finally out of the slits 152and 153.

As mentioned, the syringe 40 shown in FIG. 3 frequently becomes clogged.In the case where syringe tip 42 is clogged, syringe tip 42 is removedfrom housing 43a and conical rubber tip 101 is pressed firmly againsteither orifice 42a or 42b of tip 42 and the tip 42 is blown free ofdebris.

When cuspidor 24 becomes clogged, conical cleaning tip 101, which ispreferably rubber and which has a central channel with an opening at thetip (not shown) and which is preferably pre-fitted to adaptor 72 isfitted to coupling 62 as shown in FIG. 8. Then the adaptor 101,preferably rubber, is placed in the middle of cuspidor 24 so that thehole 111 in the adapter is concentric with the discharge outlet 27 ofthe cuspidor.

Tip 101 is then placed tightly into hole 111 of adaptor 110, handle 63of air gun 61 is squeezed to allow air to pass under pressure throughthe orifice of tip 101, and consequently, the high air pressure blowsout the debris in the drain system.

The foregoing illustrates how many types of equipment in dental officesmay be cleaned with the method and apparatus of this invention. Otherequipment which can be cleaned as described include operatory sinks,hoses, prophy jets, cavi endo units, cavitrons, water lines, handpiecelines and syringe tips. Indeed, the equipment may be generallyclassified as any which have a coupling to receive the pressurized airsystem of this invention.

We claim:
 1. An apparatus for purging debris from an air drivingturbine-type dental handpiece having a drive air channel, a cleaningwater channel, and a cleaning air channel comprising an air lineincluding a source of compressed air, means for regulating the source ofcompressed air to a safe level, a valve member, an air hoseinterconnecting the regulating means and the valve member, and means foropening and closing the valve member during the course of purgingdebris, an adaptor for interconnecting the air line to a dentalhandpiece, an insert positioned within said adaptor and having first andsecond channels respectively aligned to communicate compressed air withsaid cleaning water and cleaning air channels of a dental handpiece, sothat by opening the valve member pressurized air enters the first andsecond channels thereof and thence through said cleaning water andcleaning air channels of said handpiece for removing debris therefrom,and means for blocking the passage of air into the drive air channelwhile purging debris from the handpiece.
 2. An apparatus according toclaim 1 in which the insert is provided with means for blocking thepassage of air into the drive air channel while purging debris from thehandpiece.
 3. An apparatus for purging debris from an air driventurbine-type dental handpiece having drive air and drive air exhaustchannels and cleaning water and cleaning air channels comprising an airline for attachment to a source of compressed air, a pressure regulatorfor maintaining the source air at a safe pressure level, a valve member,an air hose interconnecting the regulating means and the valve member,and means for opening and closing the valve member during the course ofpurging debris, means for interconnecting the air line to the dentalhandpiece, an insert positioned within said interconnecting means havingfirst and second channels respectively aligned to communicate with thecleaning water and cleaning air channels of the handpiece, so that byopening the valve member pressurized air enters the first and secondchannels passing through the cleaning water and cleaning air channels ofthe handpiece for removing debris therefrom, and the insert having meansfor blocking the drive air exhaust channel isolating the air driventurbine while the handpiece is purged.
 4. A method of purging debrisfrom cleaning water and cleaning air channels in an air driventurbine-type dental handpiece comprising the steps of disconnecting thehandpiece from its normal supply of driving air, cleaning water, andcleaning air, connecting the handpiece to an adapter with an inserthaving channels communicating with the cleaning air and the cleaningwater channels, applying a flow of compressed purging air having apressure of 30 psi or less to each of the cleaning water and cleaningair channels within the handpiece, and blocking the flow of purging airto the air driven turbine with said insert.